The tremendous force caused her wrist to throb with pain. She frantically leaned back with all her might, but still couldn’t completely dodge; her throat tightened, her vision went black, and she nearly fainted. But she knew that no matter how difficult it was, she had to hold on. Forcing herself to endure, she used the only wrist she could move to continuously fend off the opponent’s storm-like attacks, unable to care about the burning pain on her neck.

This kind of blocking was one of the skills she was most proficient at. Although the opponent’s attacks were fierce, she still managed to block them firmly.

Moreover, she quickly noticed a possible weakness in her opponent. The reason it was only possible was because she wasn’t sure.

So far, the opponent hadn’t used any elemental force—was he holding back, or was his elemental force weak? She wasn’t sure.

The tenacity of Emily Parker made Ethan Brooks feel an even stronger sense of danger. Almost instinctively, he launched even more intense and lethal attacks.

The heart!

Any enemy whose heart is attacked will lose the ability to resist.

But first, he needed to deal with the opponent’s armor. For him, this wasn’t a big problem. Stripping armor and untying knots was one of his most practiced skills in the wilds. The barbarians’ armor was rough and thick, and their ropes were often impervious to blades, so only skillful hands could untie the knots. Stripping armor from dead barbarians was a key part of his job.

His raised right hand moved like a wisp of smoke—swift as lightning, yet silent—as he deftly undid the knots on the armor. If anyone saw, it would be nearly impossible to notice the pause of his fingers.

Like a slippery eel, his right hand slipped into the armor and encountered another knot. Without thinking, he untied it in one smooth motion. Any protection was just an obstacle to him.

The moment he touched the opponent’s skin, a cold glint flashed in his eyes, his killing intent blazing as if it were tangible. His five fingers clawed fiercely toward the heart. But at the last moment, he finally remembered that this wasn’t the wilds—he was here for the fifty-thousand-yuan prize. Hmm, he’d restrain the opponent’s vital point first; if there was still resistance, then he wouldn’t hold back. The killing intent in Ethan Brooks’s heart was chilling.

“Puff!”

Direct hit!

He could clearly feel the target in his arms suddenly stiffen.

Hmm?

The darkness made Ethan Brooks’s fingertips more sensitive than usual, and he felt a bit confused.

The sensation… seemed… not quite… right…

Chapter 7: Unwavering Conviction

The utterly bewildered Ethan Brooks took quite a while before he suddenly realized what he was grabbing.

Ethan Brooks felt as if his palm was clutching a ball of burning charcoal—he couldn’t let go, but he couldn’t keep holding on either.

Damn it!

Ethan Brooks couldn’t help but curse inwardly, not even sure at whom. The target in his arms was frozen stiff, not moving at all, having given up resistance. From a combat perspective, this was a good thing, but why did he feel so inexplicably guilty?

Every second felt like a year, and sweat poured down his back.

“Clang, clang, clang!”

The bell signaling the end of the fight rang out. Ethan Brooks felt as if he’d been pardoned, and in a flash, he withdrew his hand from the opponent’s arms, even helping to retie the armor’s knots in the process. He slipped quietly off the opponent’s back, crouched low, and tiptoed into the smoke.

Feeling guilty… it was better to stay far away from the target.

Blending back into the crowd, Ethan Brooks finally let out a sigh of relief. This blunder had left him at a complete loss. Fortunately, he was wearing a mask, and the night fog was thick and dark enough. Ethan Brooks felt like his face was burning, and he was overwhelmed by the urge to turn and run away.

Luckily, he still had one last shred of unwavering conviction left in his heart—the fifty-thousand-yuan prize!

As the smoke cleared, Ethan Brooks’s embarrassment gradually faded as well. It was just an accident. There are always all kinds of accidents on the battlefield, Ethan Brooks told himself.

Hmm, that actually made so much sense, he couldn’t even argue with himself!

Having convinced himself, Ethan Brooks felt at ease.

When the smoke finally dispersed, the person in charge of the arena was shocked to see that there were still more than ten people left inside. In his estimation, it would have been good if two or three remained. He knew very well how formidable his young lady’s combat skills were, and she always gave her all in these real combat drills—she would never go easy.

How could there be so many left? Could it be that the young lady wasn’t quite used to this kind of blind battle?

Someone, seeing that the arena hadn’t responded for a while, couldn’t help but shout, “Where’s the money? Are you going to pay or not?”

This immediately drew a few more voices.

“Yeah, you’re not trying to stiff us, are you?”

“Hurry up and pay! We’re busy here!”

The middle-aged man glanced at his young lady, but she showed no reaction, as if she hadn’t noticed his questioning look. After all, he was the one in charge and could adapt to the situation. Besides, fifty thousand yuan was nothing to the arena. Although he hadn’t expected so many winners, it was still easy enough to come up with a few hundred thousand in cash.

Once they got their money, everyone erupted in cheers.

For students, fifty thousand was a windfall. They immediately went out to buy all the things they usually couldn’t bear to spend on!

Everyone scattered in a rush.

Ethan Brooks blended into the crowd, completely unremarkable.

Fifty thousand! With the money in his hand, the wonderful feeling had already made him forget all about the earlier embarrassment and mishap.

He had no interest in wandering around anymore. With a swagger, he charged back into the noodle shop like a gust of wind, faced the boss with confidence, spread his hand, and declared the most domineering line of the day: “Boss, five more bowls of noodles!”